Organic Brown Rice Friands

This is a memorable small French cake that brought me into my love affair with baking. Gluten free, cholesterol free and chemical (baking powder) free. This cake is similar to Financiers but I would like to keep the name as it is when I first met with this beautiful, rich and delicious cake that has opened the window of opportunity to the pastry world.

Brown rice has similar amounts of calories and carbohydrates but it has a mild, nutty flavour, chewier and more nutritious than white rice. Several vitamins such as vitamin B1, B3 and minerals such as iron are lost in the process of producing white rice. While these vitamins and minerals are added back into white rice, magnesium is not added back. To illustrate, one cup (195g) of cooked long grain brown rice contains 84 mg of magnesium while white rice only contains 19 mg. When the bran layer is removed to make white rice, the oil in the brand that may help lower LDL cholesterol is also removed. Among other key sources of nutrition lost are dietary fiber and small amounts of fatty acids.

Almond is a nutritionally dense food and is a rich source of vitamin E, containing 26 mg per 100 g. They are also rich in dietary fiber, B vitamins, essential minerals such as magnesium, copper, manganese, calcium, and potassium as well as monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats, fats which potentially may lower LDL cholesterol. Almond also contain phytosterols such as Beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol, sitostanol, and campestanol, which have been associated with cholesterol-lowering properties. Study showed that almond may lower several factors associated with hearth disease, including cholesterol and blood lipids. The downside is that almonds may cause allergy or intolerance for some people.